Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 22, 2006

Contact: Rep. Lance Kinzer (785) 296-7663
Rep. Mary Pilcher Cook (785) 296-7667
Rep. Kasha Kelley (785) 296-7644

House Republicans Propose Taxpayer Protection Act

TOPEKA – Raising taxes on Kansans may soon be more difficult, at least that is what thirty House Republicans are proposing.

House Concurrent Resolution 5043, The Taxpayer Protection Act, would require that two-thirds of the Kansas House and the Kansas Senate approve any tax increase.

“The tax climate is slowing the Kansas economy,” said Rep. Lance Kinzer (R-Olathe). “If we can’t make much progress on cutting taxes this year, we can at least make it more difficult to raise taxes. Kansans already bear more tax burden than citizens of many other states.”

The Tax Foundation reported that Kansas taxpayers suffer the 15th worst state and local tax burden in the nation as a percentage of income, an even heavier tax burden than citizens in the notoriously high-tax states of California and Massachusetts. Kansas’ ranking this year is twice as bad as it was 20 years ago, when it ranked 31st.

Tax Burden / Climate (Rank : 1 Best – 51 Worst)*

“For the last several years, our constituents have expressed concerns that state budgets are increasing by hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Kinzer. “We appreciate the House Leadership for giving us the opportunity to show our constituents that we do hear their concerns.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Kansas employment peaked in January 2001 and has since lost 17,100 jobs. During this same time, government employment increased by 5,700 jobs.

“The statistics speak for themselves,” said State Rep. Kasha Kelley (R-Arkansas City). “We must start to do things differently in this state. Clearly the current path will only continue to weigh our economy down.”

A recent study by Janet Harrah, director of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University revealed that if Kansas’ job growth rate equaled that of the United States over the last ten years, Kansas would have 61,000 more jobs and an additional $2.1 billion payroll.

“When Kansas government taxes away profits, it destroys growth capital and keeps business from adding new jobs that would give Kansans a higher standard of living,” said Rep. Mary Pilcher Cook (R-Shawnee). “And in the longer term it depresses the revenue we collect for our state that could be used to protect our most vulnerable citizens.”

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